Poe Dameron Was Meant To Die In The Opening Of Force Awakens
For Star Wars: The Force Awakens, one of the key elements that was pressed upon fans and moviegoers was that though the originals (Luke, Han, Leia, etc.) would return, the focus would be on a new cast of characters. In this case, Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron. But as J.J. Abrams revealed to actor Oscar Isaac, who played Poe Dameron, it didn’t start out as a trio.
Because, in the original script for Force Awakens, Poe Dameron dies on Jakku after the confrontation with Kylo Ren. To which Isaac replied:
“I’d done that before,” he told Abrams later. “Set up the plot for the main guy and then die spectacularly.”
He was referring to his role in The Bourne Legacy, and because of this, Isaac was hesitant to take the role. Abrams however wasn’t going to give up:
“I wanted to impress upon him how much I wanted this to work. We talked about the story and who this character could be,” Abrams says. “I loved the collaboration. People like Oscar are the people you listen to.”
After returning home to New York, Isaac thoughts about the role, and then accepted, even though he would die quickly. Abrams reply?
“Never mind. I’ve figured it out. You’re in the whole movie now.”
And so he was, in fact, Poe was a favorite of many fans, and many more are eager to see Poe Dameron return in Star Wars Episode VII. Funny how things work out huh?